Mirror's Edge: Black Snow
by Errodox
Summary: Sam lives her usual life as a runner, until she one day stumbles upon the opportunity to find the man who murdered her family. But to do so, she has to work with the man dressed in white; Lieutenant Miller, even if she doesn't like the idea of working with a cop. OC/Miller Rated M for language and violence. -IN PROGRESS- Reviews are very much appreciated.
1. Prologue

_Prologue_

"I see pictures on the TV flashing by, blinding me in the pitch black room. It's probably the news talking about something serious. No, too tired, don't care. Nothing I need to know. If it is, well, then I'll know about it another way.  
I let myself slowly fall into sleep. I deserve it, just for a minute. Just for a minute…  
As my eyes open, there is another black room. Not like my own, no, I can somehow feel it being smaller, much smaller, it's different. The air is muggy and damp and I can feel small amounts of sweat simmer across my fore head. I see nothing and I can only hear myself breathing, or at least trying to breathe through the fabric tied across my mouth. But I don't panic, it seems natural, somehow. I feel nothing. Neither do I care about my hands being tied up behind my back. Why I am here, I do not know. I'm just sitting on a chair in a black room, unable to move, see or speak.  
But then I hear a switch turn on, and a bright light shines above me. It blinds me, hurts my eyes, and it doesn't really make my sight any better. What I do see though is my legs, and it isn't a pretty sight. My trousers are ripped, and blood sippers through them. Or it has, because from the sight of it, it has coagulated and just looks like some dark red paste smeared on my legs. It looks disgusting, but I don't feel any pain. From nowhere I start thinking about what stones feel when they land on the ground after being thrown. Maybe they feel like this.  
A door suddenly opens and a loud squeak echoes in the room. Hurts my ears, but I don't look up. Not even when I hear steps coming towards me. By looking up a little just with my eyes I see a pair of white shoes, men shoes from the looks of it. They annoy me, and I can feel myself becoming furious. I feel my heart beating faster and louder. I want to get out of here. Everything is his entire fault, but I don't know what he has done. I want to scream, but I can't. And then I see a gun pointed towards me, and just a few seconds later it fires, through my head, and I'm dead. Gone."


	2. Chapter One: Caine

**Black Snow**  
Chapter One; Caine

"For fucks sake, Sam, wake up!"  
I find myself sitting up, eyes wide open and panting heavily. For a moment I still feel like I'm in that dream, but soon realize what's reality when I hear Ann screaming at me. Or at least I think so. "The power went off again!" I can hear her voice being irritated. Great. The annoying part of Ann is here.

"Did you hear me? Wake up!" Ann continues as she slams my door open, and I look at her and feel like I want to hit her in the face, but I know better than that and I just give her a blank, tired stare.  
"Shees, calm down", I say, getting up, pushing her gently aside and walk into the kitchen, filling a glass of water. "It's not my fault the electricity is messed up."

"Sorry… It's just that, I was writing on something on the computer and, yeah…" I know she doesn't mean to act like that. Ann is very young, and sometimes acts like a stubborn child, but I still like her company. It makes me less lonely whenever I spend time in this unpleasant apartment.

"It will probably be back soon", I assure her and take a sip of the water. "Like it usually does."  
"Yeah, I know", Ann says with a little sadness in her voice. What she was doing on that computer I don't know, but I won't ask about it. If she wants to talk about it, it's her choice if she wants to bring it up or not. "I'll see if I can find some candles", she continues, and wanders off into the dark apartment.

It takes her a while to find them. I'm usually the one getting the candles, and considering the fact that she doesn't really live here, I'm not surprised. Yes, she doesn't live here, and hasn't for very long. That's just a thing I do; take in younglings who hasn't got anywhere else to go. After a little while though, they fly off like little birds and finds something on their own after finishing some well-paying work.

I don't mind them living here, and I usually pay for the food. There's barely any rent, and the landlord doesn't even care anymore. If he does show up, I just tell him that he'll need to wait a little longer, and he eventually forgets it. That's the reason why the power goes off sometimes, not enough money to have it going all the time. I don't know why this building actually still stands.

Ann sits down by the dining table with a big candle, and I join her, watching her as she lights the white candle.  
"You know, I had this… awful dream", I say, interrupting the growing silence.  
"Really? What was it about?"  
I explain to her the dream I had, not precisely down in detail, though. I'm sure she'll just be disgusted by it.

"Probably something you saw on TV, I heard you had it on", Ann says shortly and looks down into a note-pad, scribbling words down. Definitely not anything I said, because I doubt she really listened to my short, non-interesting dream. I can't stop thinking about it, though. It just felt so real, as if it had really happened. But then I rewind what Ann said, and think that it was probably something that I had catch a glimpse of from the news. Soon the dream is just a little cloud slowly flying away, like dreams usually does.

As we sit there in silence, I feel calm and peaceful, as if the world outside doesn't even exist. But then I turn my gaze out the window, and see the outlines of the high, white buildings shining vaguely in a blue color from the bright moonlight. I have to admit that it looks beautiful, but knowing what lies behind the perfect white city, underneath its skin, then my feelings change, and I go back to reality. Back to Ann who is still writing.

I still can't believe she's only sixteen years old with those good looks of her with the flowing red hair, compared to my age of thirty two. God, I'm getting old. But just like me Ann lost her parents at a very early age, being left alone to take care and feed herself, and keep protected and hidden from the city's laws and rules, which are not few. They don't look kindly on homeless people. Especially those who break the laws. She was lucky to find us, or well we technically found her, and even if she hasn't been with us for long we all see her as a part of the family. We take care of each other.

"What are you writing there?" I ask and Ann stops writing for a second and looks at me.  
"Oh, uh…" she answers quietly and I notice her eyes are focused on my tattoos. "I'm drawing, actually…"  
"Ah, I see", I know what she means and I give her a comforting smile. She's ready and has been told that it's time to, what we call it, get tagged. "Don't worry about it. You don't have to make them as visible as mine. I mean, look at Olivia, I barely even see hers, and she wears almost nothing at all."

This makes Ann smile as well a little, but she gets serious again after a few seconds. "Does it hurt?"  
"Nah, you won't feel a thing", she looks suspiciously at me. "Okay, fine… Maybe a little, but after a while I just got used to it. And in the end it was worth it."  
After that we share some stories and just have a good time. But time flies by, and the candle gets smaller as the time flies by, and soon we both go to our rooms to get some sleep. Or at least try to.

***  
My ear piece buzzes, and I hear Marks voice speaking loudly in my ear.  
"All right, sweetheart, this task might be a little difficult, but I know you like those, so see this as a romantic gift from me to you."

"Yeah yeah, very funny, Mark. And stop calling me sweetheart. Just makes you sound like a pervert", I tease him and I hear his laugh. Mark is my tracker, my guide. He's a pretty nice guy, but most of the time annoying. He is very good at finding me the good jobs, though. I don't like the easy ones, where you just have to deliver a single piece of paper or anything like that. I like the dangerous and risky ones. To get into buildings, finding what I need, and then deliver it. Sometimes it happens that I get the Blues after me, the cops, but I easily outrun them.

"Damn you, I'm not a pervert… But all right, let's get to business", he says and goes from annoying Mark to serious Mark. "Your object is located to the west of you, approximately three kilometers from your location."  
I follow his instruction and start running across the rooftops. The thing I love the most. Running.

Feeling the wind in my hair and the sun on the skin as I cross various obstacles, jump gaps, run on walls and climb on pipes as I make my way to the destination. I feel so free up here. Up here my adrenaline is on the top. Up here I can do anything I want. There are no eyes and ears up here to judge us. Or well, there are, but very bad ones. There are cases where some camera has caught us and sent the Blues on us. But other than that, we can't be found. It's just the way we runners like it; to not exist.

I slowly climb up a blue pipe to catch my breath, but quickly start running after I've pulled myself up on the edge, just to leap off to another roof. I make a little roll and stop behind a billboard, getting some cover from the hot sun, and soon hear Mark again.

"Okay, you're closing in now. See that high building in front of you? Big letters and all that other stuff a big building desperately needs to show they have power?" Mark asks and I stop moving as I look up at a twelve store building with a huge sign saying with big, orange letters; Caine.  
"Yeah… yeah, I see it. So what now, Mark, what's the surprise? Take a nice photo of it?" I ask him sarcastically.

"Nah, that's way too difficult for you. What needs to be delivered is inside the building. According to our client there is a file he needs. Never mentioned that many details, just the name 'Robert'. Seems like an important person." Before I can ask anything about security, he quickly tells me what I need to know. "Don't worry about any guards. I've checked through the building, and today seems to be a day off for most of the staff. Getting in is not the hard part, it's getting out that might be a little annoying. Oh, and by the way, watch out for those cameras. Invisible is the best. Never know who are watching those monitors."

There's nothing more to know, and I start by climbing up a higher building, pulling myself up onto the hot surface. I scan the area quickly to find the best way up, and as it seems, it's on top of the damn building. Not like it's a problem, but it just takes time to get up. Into the entrance is absolutely not where to start, a big no-no, and the best option is usually ventilation openings, or any other small openings located somewhere where nobody looks.

My legs start running, and I climb higher and higher up on nearby buildings and pipes until I find a conveniently placed crane and climb up on its neck. At the moment, I'm at the same height as the building, but a little too far away. Would have been much easier if I could control the crane and turn it, but that's of course not an option.

I back up a few meters, inhale as much air as possible, and make a run for it, leaping across onto the building, catching the very edge of the roof and I swear as my legs slam into the wall. Slowly, I climb up, shaking my legs to make the pain go away and make my way into the building.


	3. Chapter Two: Files

**Black Snow**  
Chapter 2; Files

"You're crazy, girl, you know that? Could have fallen down or something…" Mark says worried into my earpiece. It's not the first time, really, and those kinds of big accidents never happen. I know I was being reckless, should've taken another way, but what's done is done, and I'm fine.

I try my best not to make any noise as I crawl through the ventilation shafts, step by step, but that's quite an impossible mission, as the metal around me decides to make a silent thud here and there. Hopefully whoever is below me, if there even is any, believes it's something else rather than a human lurking in them.  
I make my way deeper down into the ventilation shaft, dropping down what must be at least four floors. After a few minutes of crawling I soon see light sipper into the darkness, and as I look down through the grate, I find myself being above someone's office. Lucky for me, nobody is there.

Slowly I pry the grate open, jump down, and land with light feet on the hard, cold floor, and head for the only door in the room. Man, people really have no imagination, I think to myself as I see what I usually see inside these buildings; white walls and white floors. Usually these kinds of buildings have some sort of color theme, this one is orange. Not a big surprise.

And surveillance cameras. Shit, the cameras. I quickly turn around to make sure there isn't any behind my back, and I quickly start moving along the corridor when I see a camera pointing away. With my black clothes it isn't really that hard to spot me in this unnecessary bright room. I stop for a second, peeking around a corner.

"What are you stopping for? Aint' vacation yet. Get moving. Your file is another two floors down."  
"Why such a hurry? You know I love these places", I say, dragging out the 'love'. Just some sarcasm.  
"Well, it's just that… you know", he starts carefully. "Be careful, all right?"  
"Yeah yeah, I know, dearest mother…" It might sound like we have some sort of relationship, and many people do think that. And well, we do have a relationship, as friends. Nothing romantic going on here.

I notice something up ahead, and immediately hide behind another corner. Damnit. By the looks of it, even by just looking at the backs facing me, it's just some people from the staff. Still, it's a danger.  
Looking around, I spot a door just a few meters away, and I make a run for it, as quiet as possible, open the door and close it behind me, feeling safe.

"Not far now, a couple of stairs down and you're-", Mark stops, and I realize why. Someone must have seen me. The alarm has turned on, screaming through the whole building. But who saw me? Then it hits me; the cameras. The fucking surveillance cameras. What's wrong with me? This never happens. Guess this was just the wrong day, I think as I start to move.

Mark tells me to run for it, but I'm way ahead of him, darting down the stairs, two floors and I'm where I need to be. In a room with a shit loads of files.  
"Just get the file and get the fuck out of there. I can tell on the wires that some Blues are on the way." My adrenalin pumps faster than ever. Not because I'm scared, no, it's because of excitement. It makes me feel alive. Or well, I won't be so alive if I'll get caught, that's for sure.

I start making my way through the files, trying to find the 'Robert' the client mentioned, soon noticing that they are all sorted by last names. And there is no Robert as a last name.  
"For fucks sake, Mark, the client only gave us the surname", I yell into the radio as I search, but then the name 'Caine' hits me for some reason, and I almost dive my way over to C. I don't know if it was just luck, but there it was, Robert Caine. "Does Robert Caine say anything to you?"

"I don't know, maybe", I hear the panic in Marks voice. "Shit, just take it and leave. Now!"  
Voices and footsteps gets louder outside the door, and I grab the file, quickly stores it in my bag and make a run for it, and this time I don't care about anyone, or anything seeing me, I just run. Through the white corridors, to the right, to the left, past some surprised staff, avoiding doors opening on me and into an elevator. The door closes, and without thinking I press the down button.

I breathe out, checking my pulse. It beats fast all right.  
Some news to the right of me catches my attention, but I don't read it all, just catch a couple of words about some lieutenant. Nothing important. Not to me, anyway.  
"All right girl, stop dreaming and get ready to run. Blues are waiting for you. Get past them, and you're in the clear", Mark tells me as the doors opens up, and before they open up completely, I'm out, and what do you know, I've got company. Just regular cops, though, nothing to worry about.

I feel guns pointed at me as I make my way between some pillars to take cover from a shot. Unlike them I don't get to wear bulletproof wests, they're too heavy.  
"Come out with your hands where we can see them!" I hear a Blue yell. To hell with that, I answer in my head and run for the door. Somebody steps in my way, thinking he can just grab me and be done with it.

I quickly jump towards him, raise my leg and land a kick on his hand, making his gun fly far away from him, and while he is in confusion I swing my arm at him, hitting my fist right in his face. The cop falls down onto the floor, and I quickly make a roll to take cover yet again as I hear shots coming my way.

I slowly peek my head around the corner, but immediately goes back to cover as another shot fires. Shit. The door is so close I can almost reach it. There's nothing else in my mind other than getting out, and I just make a run for it, avoiding bullets and cops and I make myself ready to slam my body into the door. The impact is rough, but I barely feel it thanks to the adrenaline.

The sun blinds me briefly, and I want to stop to catch some air, but there's no time. I can hear sirens getting closer and closer, and I can feel eyes on me. Shocked civilians. Mark says something to me, but I can barely ear him over my pounding heartbeats and the sirens.

Then he yells something in my ear, and my legs start to move, across the street, almost getting hit by a car, and into an alley. It doesn't take that long to shake them off. I climb some stairs, jump onto some pipes and I'm soon on top of the roofs. Up here I doubt they will follow me. Or well, I'm sure they'll follow me, but they'll never find me, considering how far ahead of them I am, and it doesn't take long for me to get into safety.


	4. Chapter Three: Far Below

**Black Snow**  
Chapter 3: Far below

"What the heck is wrong with you?" Olivia yells as I enter Marks' place.  
"Relax, Olivia. I'm still alive, aren't I? And not even a single scratch", I tease her as I walk by her to the hot pizza, feeling her angry gaze on me as I sit down in the sofa to grab a slice.

"Hey, hands off my pizza", Mark yells from the other side of the room, but I just stare at him with a smile as I take a bite of the pizza, and I see him sigh as he turns around and sits down by his little computer corner, as I like to call it. Where the hell he got those monitors and all that other stuff, I have no idea.

"Enough about the pizza… What the hell, Sam, you could have killed yourself", Olivia says and looks at me as if I'm just a little child.  
"No", I take another bite. "The cops could've killed me. But they didn't." I see Olivia frown and she leans back in the couch with her arms crossed, realizing that there's no use arguing with me. "Besides, I got what we needed. Or well, at least I hope so", I say looking at Mark who only gives me a shrug.

"Fine… ", Olivia says, sighing. "Wait… you mean you don't know?" She continues. We have a little argument, but she soon calms down and reaches for the pizza, and there must be some sort of invisible wires in this room, because as soon as she grabs a slice, Mark immediately turns around.  
"I said hands of my pizza!" And in just a few seconds he grabs the whole carton and brings it over to his computers. "My pizza…"

"Aw, stop being so cheap, Mark", Olivia complains and we all share a laugh, then she turns to me again. "So, aint' you gonna deliver it, then? The file?" But I don't get a chance to answer before Mark jumps in.  
"No, the client didn't want it delivered immediately. Dunno why, but he said he was going to contact me when he wanted it. Weird guy", Mark answers without turning his gaze away from the computer screen. "But he sure pays good for it. By the way, Olivia, want something to do?"

"Sure, what is it?"  
"Nah, very simple, really. Chris said you could continue his job, so you just need to deliver some data", Mark explains. Chris is another of us runners, but recently got into an accident. Got to careless and strained his ankle, and getting some nasty bruises on his leg. Accidents have to happen to someone.

"All right, don't really have much else to do. Bring it", Olivia makes her way to Mark and he gives her some coordinates, and some minutes later she grabs her bag, says goodbye and heads out to the rooftops.

The next fifteen minutes are in silence. I don't mind, really. It gives me some time to just… think. Even if I feel like going out, it's nice to just rest my limbs. But Marks place smells like crap, though. Some sort of mixture between pizza and sweat. And a hint of gas, actually.  
After a while I just can't stand the smell and decide to head out. Mark doesn't care, he's way into his computers, doing things I'll never understand.  
"Hey Mark, I'm heading out. Contact me if you need anything", I tell him as I grab my earpiece, and he just gives me a short wave.

I'm out on the rooftops for a while, and I find myself sitting down high up in the sky with my legs dangling from the edge of a roof. As I look down I see the city life below me, and I wonder how they can stand their lives, constantly being watched. From up here they look like ants. I bet that's how they look like to the government as well. They feel like they can do anything they want with them, and they'll just obey. Nobody dares to go against the law. Except us, of course, the runners. And our clients.

Well, it's not really certain who they are, really. In fact, it could be anyone, but usually it is those who have been pushed aside by society. Most of the clients prefer not to give out their real names to us, or show their face, afraid we'll be some Blues under cover. I smile at the thought seeing the clumsy cops jumping between the roofs.

The earpiece buzzes and it startles me a little. "Hey Sam?"  
"Yeah? What?" I answer shortly, still gazing down at the streets.  
"You up for something crazy?" He begins, with a little hint of excitement in his voice. "Like, really crazy?"

"Tell me." And then he explains everything, in detail. To be honest, I'm surprised that Mark actually agrees on this, but I don't complain.  
"Right, so you sure you wanna do this? You're the only who's not backing out. The bag is not really going to be easy to get. Whoever left it down there is really gonna pay for it."

"Heck yeah, I want to", I say and smile. The bag isn't really far away from here, neither is it on top of any building or inside one. The thing is that someone left at street level, and hid it right in the open. And someone has to go get it.


	5. Chapter Four: Lieutenant

**Black Snow**  
Chapter 4: Lieutenant

The alarm is beeping. It's 4:30 pm and the sun is shining brightly behind the curtains. The night had been long for the lieutenant, thanks to some kids who thought it would be easy to steal from the market and get away with it. First he thought that it was just a simple theft, but it turned out way worse than that. Those kids are never going to have a normal life again.

He looks at his wristwatch just to make sure what time it was again, and slowly sits up in the bed, with his feet on the cold floor and with his head heavily in his hands, feeling as if he'd just want to lie down and sleep forever, but the thing keeping him awake is his work, to keep the people of this city safe. Without all that unnecessary violence most of his colleagues seems to enjoy.

Carefully he gets up and stretches his legs and arms, only to get interrupted by his phone ringing in the living room.  
"Miller", he answers shortly and sighs, not in the mood at all for a phone call.  
"Hey, Miller, it's Matthew", a bright voice says in his ear. Why would a co-worker call at this time? Miller thinks and sighs yet again. "So, some of us at work was planning on getting out later this evening, wanna-"  
"No", Miller interrupts. "No, I'm fine." Matthew is about to say something else, but Miller has already hung up. He's not really into spending time with his colleagues. Meeting them at work his enough for him. Spending time with anyone particular isn't really his specialty either. Not after the accident. Their faces. The horror in their faces.

Miller shakes his head, cleaning his head of the horrible thoughts and walks into the bathroom to wash his face, to wake up.  
"It was just a nightmare, just a silly dream", he whispers as he looks into the mirror, looking into a sad face that only grows older and older for each year passing, but not a single gray hair, no… in fact, it's completely white. He splashes some more water in his face and dries and with a towel and puts on some clothes. The choice isn't difficult; a white shirt with a white tie, and a white pair of pants.

Many people have pointed out and said things about his choice of clothing, both good and bad opinions, but Miller doesn't care. This is just the way he likes it. Besides, it makes it much easier to know what to wear. Sometimes he has to admit that it kind of fits with the cities high, white buildings.

He picks up a black remote and turns on the TV, going from a black screen to showing the latest news, and doesn't get surprised when he sees pictures from last night. Nothing serious, though. The government is pretty picky about what will be shown on the television. Don't want the society to know about how they are not so perfect as they seem.

Miller leaves the TV on as he slides open the glass door leading to his balcony and breathes in the air as he looks out on the city, the city he has vowed to protect from criminals, to respect and follow the City Protection Forces motto; Keeping the city safe. As a lieutenant he mostly gives orders, and guns are usually not necessary. But he has used them. In some cases he did what other has expected him to do, sometimes it was the best option.  
But he can't help thinking about the November riots. Back then he was a police officer, trying to keep the aggressive protesters back, but everyone knows what happens if a big group of people stands up against another big group of people carrying guns and bulletproof shields; death. The police forces won, and not soon after that the New City was born, the present city, constantly in in reconstruction to make the city safer. Or to tell the truth, it's to make it easier to keep track on the people.

The wristwatch interrupts his thoughts and he looks down at it, 5:15 pm. Time to get to work.  
Miller closes the door and makes sure everything is turned off in the apartment, locks the door and heads into the elevator, going down thirteen floors to the parking lot. His apartment is the pent house. A very expensive one, but being a man of his rank sure pays off, and why not buy a nice apartment if you can afford one.

The parking lot is dark, hiding the green interior, with a few, yellow lights here and there, revealing various cars as he passes by them, hiding whatever that is in the shadows. Sometimes he can almost feel eyes on him, watching his every step, but doesn't show any single bit of fear or worry in his face. Not when he has got his own two guns, two high-caliber pistols to be more precise, placed safely in his holsters, easy to grab if there would be trouble.  
His car beeps as he unlocks it, making the lights blink in a bright orange light two times, and he steps into his white car. Slowly he grabs his yellow badge and the white earpiece placed in the seat next to him, puts them on, and heads out into the roads.


	6. Chapter Five: Meeting

**Black Snow**  
Chapter 5; Meeting

"So", I say as I enter the room where Olivia, Mark and Ann are sitting, staring at me. "How do I look?" I really went all out on this; fixing my hair and everything, even covered up my tattoos. I didn't do all this to be pretty, though, but to be on the safer side, considering I have to walk around in New Town. Security cameras all over the goddamn place. And I would prefer to walk around incognito. I like to pretend that I'm an undercover agent. Gives me a meaning to look this horrible.

"Not like you at all", Ann says and smirks, teasing me. "It's like you just went shopping or something at the mall."  
"I still don't like it", I hear Olivia complain from the other side of the room. Always Oliva… "Why do you always have to do this kind of things? It's fucking dangerous. And stupid as well."  
"Well, someone has to fetch that bag, right?" Mark explains and I agree, but still not understanding why someone would make such a stupid drop-off.

"And yes, whoever left it there is an idiot, but the bag contains valuable stuff. And we can't risk someone else finding it, or worse, it being considered as trash and thrown away to burn", I say and goes to put on a hoodie that covers my tattoos on my arms. I also grab a shoulder bag. Not one of our bags, no, but just a small black bag. "I'll be fine", I assure Olivia and give her a pat on her shoulder. It doesn't really cheer her up though.

"Anyway, wish me luck."  
"Break a leg", I hear Mark yell as I open the door to his place and head out. He doesn't really live in the safest place, actually. Just like me he lives in a half abandoned store house that's mostly forgotten. Still haven't figured out how he manages to get free electricity though, and he doesn't want to seem to share his secrets, but oh well.

I make my way down onto another building and find a couple of stairs, feeling quite uncomfortable in my black jeans and uncomfortable shoes, and something in me wonders why the hell I'm actually doing this. But as Mark said, someone has to do it, and as I make my way through a corridor I open a door that leads out to the city life.

God, it has been ages ago since I walked around on the streets, I think as I look around. Everything around me is different, which is no surprise at all, and it feels like everyone is staring at me as I start walking. It's uncomfortable. Having so many people around me isn't something that happens often, or well, not at all really. Even before my time as a runner I didn't like being around people or shopping. Definitely not the latter.

After a while of walking I end up in a park surrounded by white trees, realizing that I have no idea where to go. Why couldn't I have just started somewhere closer? Probably just Mark who wants to see me lost in the city with feet that hurts like hell. How can people walk around in these kinds of shoes? I think as I sit down on a bench and pick up a phone, not mine, though. It's just an excuse to speak with Mark so he can give me some directions. Having an ear piece constantly in my ear isn't really what normal civilians use, and it would probably seem suspicious.

Just as I'm about to dial a number I get distracted by a noise, and I recognize it so well; laughter. I turn around to see a little kid playing by the sidewalk. As I watch him playing along the sidewalk I smile, catching a memory that I thought was long gone; my little brother, but my smile soon fades out the more I think of him. You were so young, I tell myself. There was nothing you could do.

In the middle of my thoughts, the kid looks back at me, and I realize how sad I must look when the boy gives me a comforting, warm smile and a wave. I hear a female voice yell, and the boy turns around to cross the street, and in the middle of everything my phone starts vibrating while playing a song I've never heard before. But I don't pick it up, in fact, I find myself sprinting towards the boy, and it feels like time slowed down.

A black car approaches the boy, way too fast, and whoever is driving that car doesn't seem to have any intention to stop. I reach my arms out to the boy who seems frozen as he stands there in the middle of the street, staring at the car getting close and closer and I push him out of the way. The only thing I hear is my own heartbeats, not hearing any of the screams around me, and then the car hits me, slamming right into my body, making me roll up onto the car engine, just to get thrown onto the hard concrete as the driver suddenly steps on the breaks.

But there's never anybody who steps out to find out what happened, no. The driver steps on the gas and quickly drives past me. What the fuck? Then I notice how another car follows it, a white one. But it's too difficult to make out if it's the blues or not.

As I lay there, moaning in pain as I cross my arms over my stomach, a few people walks towards me and helps me up onto the sidewalk. Everything is still a bit fuzzy, and I tell people that I'm fine, which I'm really not, but I don't want the attention. But that seems impossible considered I just got hit by a fucking car.

"Are you okay? What's your name?" I hear someone ask behind me and I turn to see a lady with brown, wavy hair with a kid beside her.  
"I'm fine. Don't worry", I tell her, trying to give her a smile, ignoring the latter question.  
"No really, anything I can do for you?" the lady continues and goes on about me saving her child and something else, but I don't hear, it's still hard to make words out. First I'm thinking if I got some serious damages on my brain, but after a while it slowly gets better.

I reach my hand into the black bag to find my phone, only to notice that it's not there. Damn it. But then where is it? My eyes look around me to find any sign of it, and then I see it in the road, crushed. Well, this must be the best day of my life. But what could I do? Nobody else seemed to care enough to save the kid. I couldn't just let him get run over.

Soon the people start to leave. Someone asks me if they should call the ambulance, but I say no. Don't know if they listened to me, but I haven't heard any sirens so far, so I just guess they didn't. Thanks, I guess. But my body sure does hurt, though. Wouldn't mind an ambulance, really, but then the cops would get involved, and I would be in trouble. Big trouble.

Just as I'm about to get up a car stops in front of me, a white car. I look at it, and the door opens, revealing a man completely dressed in white, and I find myself staring at him.  
"You okay?" he asks, reaching out a hand, but I don't take it when I see the yellow badge placed on his chest. A blue.  
"Yes, I'm fine", I say as I stand up, on my own.  
"Really? It looked quite bad to me", he says and looks at me with suspicious eyes.

"Well, I guess I'm just lucky." I raise my hand to remove some hair from my face, trying the hardest not to show the pain in my face. It feels like someone is stabbing me from inside my chest. But he still looks at me with those dark eyes. I know he doesn't believe me.  
"Look I need to take you to the station to check some things", he says, and I think he realizes that I won't come with him, even if I'm not saying anything.  
"I guess you were the one chasing that driver?" I ask.  
"Yes. The driver was stopped by nearby officers and is unharmed", he replies, still focusing his dark eyes on me. It's disturbing. I feel that he is hiding something behind those words, and just guess that the driver is probably dead. And the news is going to say that he died because of an accident.

"That's all that matters to me", I say, with a little too much anger in my voice. "He almost killed that boy."  
"And thanks to you, that didn't happen." Just leave me alone.  
"Yeah, well, look, I'm kind of in a hurry and-", I don't get to finish.  
"What are you hiding?" What I'm hiding? Maybe the fact that I'm a runner, and you're one of my worst enemies? Maybe that I'm on my way picking up information that's been taken illegally? But then I just start to laugh. It surprises him, just as it does to me.

"Okay, fine! It does hurt, okay?" I say cheerfully, joking about it. Well, I'm not really joking, though, it does hurt. A lot. Maybe it will make him think of other things, and it seems to work, because I see a little smile on his lips.  
"Well, you did get hit by a car", he says and I laugh again, trying my best not to sound like I'm faking it. That man has no idea how much I just want to get out of here, get out of the cameras. Still, there's something about him. I can't say what, there is just… something.  
"All right, look", he continues and looks around a few times. "I'll make an exception and let you go."  
"Oh, really?" I say, suspiciously.  
"Only if you promise me you get to the hospital."  
"Fine… fine. I promise", I lie. Just let me go, damnit.

Still, it feels odd that he just lets me go like that, but I don't complain and it doesn't take long until I get away from him, quickly getting into an alley, and then it hits me. Fuck… the phone. It's still lying on the street, probably in pieces and unusable. I'm sure someone could fix it, but right now I don't feel like going back there. I just want to get that bag, and get the hell out of here. Getting the bag is easy, and I find it hidden in a dumpster, but I can't get back to Mark as quick as I want to, not with this pain stabbing me as soon as I move too quickly.  
This is going to be a long day.


	7. Chapter Six: Memories

**Black Snow**  
Chapter 6: Memories

Laughter. There's laughter in the end of the corridor. In the end of the corridor there is a door. A red door. I run towards it, and get blinded by a bright light as I open it.

"Hey sis", William yells at me and smiles. "Hey, look what dad got me! Isn't it great?" He looks so happy as he plays around with his miniature plane, making noises as he pretends that the plane is flying high above him.  
"Wow, cool", I say as I look at it. "Is it fast?" William stops and looks at me.  
"Yeah, it's like… really, really fast… Why?"

"Nah… Just wondering if it's faster than… me", I say as I start to run after him, chasing him around the lawn, we both laughing and screaming in joy. After a while William jumps to hide behind a tree, and as I close in his head pops out with his plane in his arm, making noises as if he was shooting me with the plane. I smile and roll on the ground, but the second time he fires I stand on my knees.

"Mayday, mayday, I've been hit", I yell as I fall onto the ground, pretending to be dead. Soon, I hear steps closing in on me, and I look at my little brother behind my hair, waiting to attack.  
"Rawr!" I scream as I bolt up to grab him and drag him onto the grass.  
"No", William screams and he starts to laugh as I begin to tickle him. "Stop it, sis", he continues and after a while I surrender, and we both just lay there in the grass.

"Happy birthday, William", I say, and he looks at me, smiling. God, he's so cute. I just can't help myself when I hug him.

"Sam, William", my mother yells from the house. "Time for dinner"  
I dart up and look down on my brother. "Last one in is a rotten egg", I say and starts running into the house.  
"Hey, that's not fair", William complains and follows me into the house. The smell of food hits me in the face, and I jump my way towards the dining table, where my parents are waiting.

"Smells nice", I say as I sit down, gazing at the food. "What is it today?" I ask my mother. But as soon as she's about to answer, my brother finally joins the table and yells; "Lasagna!" And everyone laughs.  
"Well", mother begins as she hands me some salad. "I thought that you would appreciate your favorite dish on your birthday, honey."

"So, how did you like your present?" My dad asks William, meaning the plane.  
"It's great, dad", William exclaims enthusiastically. "Hey, when I grow up, I'm going to be a pilot!"  
And from there we have just a great time, and we end the day after cake and movies on the TV. I say goodnight to my parents, and carry my sleepy brother upstairs to our room. I don't mind sharing room with him, actually. I know William doesn't either, since some nights I wake up, noticing my brother beside me, hugging me. Always happens if he's had a bad dream.

I lay him down into his bed and tucks him in.  
"So, did you enjoy your special day?" I ask him.  
"Yeah… It was great", he says with a tired voice, and I smile.  
"Goodnight, little brother."

"Goodnight", he says as I crawl into bed. Just a couple of minutes later I hear; "Hey, sis?"  
"Yeah?" I answer, turning my body towards him.  
"I love you…"  
"I love you too, William."

***

"We'll be back real soon, okay?" Mom says as she and dad gets into their car. On their way to a meeting. They weren't supposed to work today, but I guess something important just came up.  
"But what about the park?" William says, disappointed.  
"We take that another day, I promise." And with those words, they take off. We go inside the house, and I close the door and lock it with a key. Just something my parents want me to do when we're home alone.

"They promised last time as well", William says, still disappointed and at the edge of crying.  
"You know that their work is important", I say as I kneel down before him. Even though I'm not really sure what they work with, I know that it's something they can't say no to. Probably because their boss is a jerk. Still, I wish that they'd consider us more important than their job.

William doesn't say anything else, and starts to cry. Mostly because there won't be any visiting to a park today, and a part of me thinks he's over-reacting. But a child will always be I child.  
"Hey", I say and I hug him. "I have an idea." And I get up just to run to our backyard, to search through our garbage-room. On the way back I'm carrying loads of cartons and other various things, and throw it down on the floor in our living room.

"What are you doing, sis?" William asks as he closes in.  
"We, little man, are going to the park", I say cheerfully and grins.  
"But… We can't go without mom and dad…"

"I know that. But we are going to build our own park." William still looks confused. "Come over here and help me", I say and wave him over, and ask him what he wants to build.  
"I don't know.." He says, but then I get an even better idea.  
"Wait, I know… Let's build a castle. You know, like in that book of yours?" The minute I say that, William puts on a big smile.

"And I can be the prince, right?" He asks as I start gluing some cardboard together.  
"No you'll be the frog", I say.  
"Aw, sis!"  
"I'm just joking, William. Of course you can be the prince!" I laugh, and we start building the castle. Or well, I'm not sure if it really looks like a castle. It's more like a brown house about to fall apart, really. But still, it's pretty good for being made by two kids.

"I am the prince now, and you are my servant", William yells and points at me with a cardboard sword, and I bow before him, just as our parents come home, ruining our fun with pointing at our castle and yelling that it has to be removed. William starts crying, and mom tries to talk to him, comfort him, while dad starts yelling at me. They are usually not like this, and I don't know why they reacted like this.

"We were just having fun, dad", I yell and look at him with anger in my eyes.  
"But you could have built it outside!" He replies, but he knows that it's raining outside. No weather to be playing around in. Then the rest of the conversation is blurred out, and I find myself in my room, crying. William sleeping in his bed. I remember myself saying that I hated them. Hated them for their work. That they cared about their work more than us. More than William. And of course they got even angrier. Still, this has never happened before. They have never gone this far.

I pull myself up from the wooden floor and make my way down to the living room. The castle is still there, making me wonder why it hasn't been thrown outside yet. Then I hear voices coming from the kitchen, and I quietly make my way there.

"We should never have accepted this", I hear mom whisper to dad. "I just wish I could go back…" Dad hushes her, and takes her hands in his.  
"No... no, it's all my fault", he says. What are they talking about?  
"We need to move. Get as far away from here as possible", mom says with a worried voice. "What if he comes here?"

I just stand there, listening, having no idea what they are talking about. Why do we need to move? Just as I'm about to reveal myself from the shadows, there are loud bangs on the door. It startles me, just as is startles my parents, and I quickly rush into the living room to hide behind the sofa when dad goes to open the front door just a few meters away from me.

"Who is it?" Dad asks, not opening the door.  
"Delivery service", an unknown voice says outside. Mom and dad give each other confusing looks. Mom says something about not opening the door, but dad doesn't listen, opens the door, and gets a fist in his face. My mother screams as he falls down onto the floor with blood pouring out from his nose, and I see three big shadows entering the room as I peak around the corner of the sofa, terrified.  
"No, please! Don't do this. We'll do anything!" My mother screams as she kneels down on the floor to see if her husband is okay.

"Well, I guess it's too late for that, isn't it?" A dark, manly voice says, and the shadow raises a long, thin object over his head, just as my little brother walks down the stairs.  
"Mom, I can't sleep…" My brother says, not noticing the strangers.  
"Go upstairs, sweetie. It's all right…"

"Oh, what do we have here?" The man says, interrupting my mother, walking towards William. I want to rush forward, save everyone, but I can't. I'm frozen.  
"Leave him alone", mother yells but the man isn't listening.  
"You can't sleep, young boy?" The man asks William, and I can see in my bothers face how scared he is now when he notices his father on the floor and the two other men. William doesn't answer, and just looks at the man. "Not very much of a talker, are we?" He continues and turns to his men and waves on of them over. "Take care of this one, would you?" The other man nods and picks up William, holding him steady in his big arms as my brother screams and kicks with his feet. My mother begins to hit the man, only to get knocked down onto the floor. And here I am, doing nothing about it.

"So, you should know by now why we are here", the man says and looks down onto my parents. I can hear how he almost sounds eager about it. "You both are accused of treachery to the company, and must pay for it. In this case; your lives… Beginning with this little boy."

My mother shrieks in anger, yelling words that are unknown to me, and then it just happens. A gun fires, and by brother falls onto the floor. Dead. Lifeless. My body is completely frozen, and I can't do anything but watch as there are two more shots.

"Make sure they are dead", the man says, looking around. And I see his face. It's horrible. Evil. "And take care of this place. Don't leave any evidence behind." The two other men begin to pour gas around the place, all the way out to the backyard.  
A couple of minutes passes by, making me unsure of what's to happen next, but not soon after that big flames spreads over the whole house. A part of me just wants to sit here and let the flames eat me. A part of me wants to get the hell out of here. The latter part wins and my legs start to move.  
I want to save my family, realizing that I can't save them. They're all dead. Dead… But it's too late, I tell myself, and I begin running out from the house, doing my best to dodge the fire, and finally jumping out onto the grass.

I cough as I lay there, trying to breathe, only to get interrupted by a dark voice closing in.  
"Hey, are you okay?" The voice says, but I just start running away, afraid he might be one of the unknown men. Running away from the fire. My family. It's not until I get to an alley and sit down that I realize what really just happened, and I break down._They're dead… They're all dead. Mom. Dad. William._ The last thing I said was that I hated them.  
And I didn't do anything. I just sat there and watched. My tears won't stop. I'm freezing.  
I black out.


	8. Chapter Seven: Stranger

**Black Snow**  
Chapter 7: Stranger

"Sam, you okay?" Mark says into my earpiece. I don't answer. "Come on, what's bothering you?"  
It was three days ago since I got that bag, since I saved that kid. During that time I remembered something I've somehow allowed myself to forget; my family. How they got murdered and burned down into the ground.

"It's just… my family", I say as I walk around on the rooftops, looking into the blue moon.  
"Oh..." Mark says. He knows what happened to them. My family. He even tried to help me to find the ones responsible, but he found nothing. After a while I guess I just forgot about everything. Tried to focus on the present. Focusing on my survival.

"It's nothing, Mark. I'm fine. Really."  
"Well, I hate to be the one breaking up everything, but you got work to do, remember?" Ah, yes. The client finally told us were we could drop this file off. Apartment 36, floor five, if I remember correctly.  
"Yeah, yeah. I'm on my way", I say and manage to pull off a little smile, and start making my way towards my destination.

The run there is pretty nice. Even if it's quite cold in the air, it still feels nice. Not warm enough, though, since I forced myself to put on a black hoodie. It still hurts a little in my body as I pull myself up on ledges and as I jump, but I didn't want to leave this to someone else. What's started must be finished.

I climb my way up to the fifth floor of the building. The client had said something about a red cross marked on his balcony, and yup, there it is. The apartment is completely dark, and by the looks of it nobody seems to be home. Doesn't stop me from knocking on the door, though. But nobody is opening. That's odd.

I knock again on the glass door, a little louder this time, just to make sure that the client heard. Did I get the wrong balcony? I wonder and look around. Finally, the door opens, and I reach my hand into the bag to bring the file out, but just as I'm about to I hear something click, and I look up just to notice that I'm gazing into a gun.  
"Don't move, or I'll shoot", a dark voice says. I can't see his face, and he can't see mine.

"Are you the client?" I ask, not giving a damn about the gun. Still, I feel pretty confused, since clients never pull a gun on us.  
"Maybe, maybe not…"  
"I'm going to take that as a no then", I say still looking at the gun. "Must be the wrong apartment."  
"I said don't move", the man says and I immediately stop as the weapon gets closer. "I know what you are. What you do." Damn, it's probably a cop. "And whatever it is you have in that bag of yours, hand it over to me."

"And what makes you think I'm going to do that?" I say, crossing my arms. The man becomes silent for a while.  
"Because I was told to come here." Wait, what?  
"Oh really now?" I say, suspiciously. "You better have damn good reasons to why I should trust you." Then the man hands me something. A folded piece of paper.

"I was told to give you this", the man says and I look at the paper. Refusing, at first, but then I slowly grab it, opens it and try in the dark to read whatever is written on the paper. At first, I'm confused, but soon my eyes make out the few words written on the paper; **I know what happened to your family.**

"Is this some kind of joke?" I burst out, crumbling the piece of paper in my fist, throwing it away.  
"I can assure you that those are not my words."  
"Well, it's pretty hard to notice when I have a gun in my face", I almost yell, almost at the edge of just jumping off the balcony. Run away.

"Wait… I was also told to give you this", he says and hands over a bag, and without even looking inside it I know what it is. The cash. "I know you probably are curious to find out what those words meant. Just as I am curious of what is in that bag of yours. Hand it over."

I grab the bag he handed me, with my mind confused. If it was a Blue, why wouldn't he just shoot me? Right here, right now, and just take the bag? Why go through all this trouble. But then I open my own bag, pulling out the file and hand it over to him, I did in fact get the money, and finally, the gun drops and I breathe out for a second.

My instincts tell me to run away, but curiosity takes over as I stand there in the shadows, waiting for the man so say something, anything, but he doesn't make any sound. I can't see his face, but I know he is looking at the file, trying to figure out why he's holding it in his hands.

"So…" I say, breaking the silence. "I guess we have no more business with each other."  
"No, wait… Where did you get this?"  
"Where do you think I got it?" I think he understands though and I hear a sigh, then he says something that surprises me.  
"We might be strangers", he begins, dragging it out. "But we might have more in common than you think."


	9. Chapter Eight: Hello

**Black Snow**  
Chapter 8

"What do you mean?" I ask, staring into the shadows, trying to understand who this man is.  
"Hey, Sam? What the hell are you doing?" Mark says into my earpiece, but I don't answer him.  
"What do you mean?" I say, louder this time, crossing my arms as I look into the shadows.  
"Look, I could use your help" the man says, confusing me. "But this is not a good place to talk."

I just stand there, still trying to see who he is, and my thought about him being a cop slowly fades away. Why would he need my help? I want to say no and just get out of there, live my 'normal' life, but what if he really knows something? This is a chance for me to understand why my family was brutally murdered.  
There is a silence for a while, until I start looking through my bag. Somehow it makes the man suspicious, and the gun is pointed in my face again.

"Oh calm down", I say, picking up another earpiece. A spare one, in case my own would disappear.  
"Take this."  
"Why?"  
"So that I can find you later", I say and without another word I leap from the balcony across to a nearby building, barely grabbing a pipe. God, standing still makes my limbs hurt, I think as I start making my way back to Marks lair across the cold rooftops.

"What. The. Fuck, Sam", Mark says as I enter his place to drop of the bags.  
"What?" I say, trying to sound innocent.  
"You know what I'm talking about", he says. Well, I do know. It's just that at the moment I don't care. We have a little argument, though. Mark saying how I'm an idiot, me saying that I need to find out if the man lies or not. Besides, if that man is lying, I'll know where he lives. I bet he thinks that he's supposed to contact me, which won't be needed at all, since there is a tracker hidden in the earpiece I gave him.

There is really no rush to find him, though. Besides, we would have to make sure first where he really lives. And also because my body still feels sore.  
"Damn it, Mark, ever heard of heaters before?" I say and sit down on the floor to stretch my legs, but he doesn't answer. Little Mark is upset for losing the argument. I know he just doesn't want me to put myself in unnecessary danger, but he also knows that I want to do this. It's impossible to stop me, really.

It's not until the next day that Mark tells me he got the man's location. The sky is a beautiful mixture of warm colors, a sign that the sun is about to set. It's an odd, but still nice contrast to the white and dull buildings.  
I jump over a fence and sprint towards the edge of the building and make a roll on a lower one, trying my best not to slip on the icy roofs. Winters aren't really the favorite season for us runners. Even if there's not that much snow, it's still a pain in the ass sometimes. If accidents happen, it's usually in these months of coldness. I guess ice is our worst enemy. And right after comes the Blues.

"You said the top floor, right?" I ask Mark, looking at the building right across me. Lucky it wasn't such a high building, and it is easy accessed by nearby rooftops.  
"Yep", Is the answer I get. I bet he's still upset.  
I make my way over to my destination, and find myself on an unnecessarily big balcony. Who the hell is this man, anyway? There's nothing on it, though. Just a glass door.  
My earpiece buzzes just as I enter the apartment through the glass door.  
"Hey Sam, this dude you're visiting…" Mark says, a little too worried, but I quickly turn as I hear the familiar sound of a gun about to shoot.

"How did you find me?" The man says and I can't help but sigh as I cross my arm. This nonsense again?  
"Hey, could you just-", I begin, but when I look up at the man I see someone completely dressed in white. Shit. "So you are a cop." I won't ever forget that suit. I can tell on the confusion on his face that he doesn't remember the car accident, but I guess after a while he does and lowers his gun and puts it safely in his holster.  
"How did you-"  
"There is a tracker in the headpiece I gave you." I say, answering his question, and he sighs. Now we know where he lives, and there is nothing he can do about it. Well, not at the moment.

"Is it common for your... _kind_ to be running around down in the streets?" He says as I look around in his apartment. This man really has a thing for white…  
"None of your business", I say as I find myself investigating a small, black object. I do really feel like just smashing it open, just to see how the cop would react, but I would know better than that. I'm not here to vandalize anything. Neither am I here to have small talk about what I do for a living.

"So… nice place." I continue, but my joke doesn't seem to work on this guy.  
"Can I trust you?" The man says abruptly and stares at me with his cold, serious eyes as I make myself comfortable in a couch, and I roll my eyes.  
"Can I trust you?" I copy, and our eyes lock for a couple of seconds until he also sits down on a chair nearby. I notice a grin on his face, and from that I guess we're just fine.


	10. Chapter Nine: Reunion

**Black Snow**  
Chapter Nine; Reunion

Warm rain poured down at the concrete as Miller darts down the streets, trying to race against the weather. He knew that it was an impossible task, but at the moment he'd do anything to prevent the groceries from getting soaked.  
Soon enough he stopped outside a brown door marked with a familiar number and begun to fumble for the doorknob while at the same time balancing the bags in one hand.  
As soon as his hand found the doorknob, he quickly pushed the door open with his foot and held the groceries in a safe grip in is arms.

"Honey?" a female voice yelled from another room. "Is everything alright?" Miller could see her face worried as she looked at him, but she soon relaxed and laughed.  
"You're all soaked!"  
"Well… it is raining outside." Miller said and couldn't help but smiling as he closed the door and spun around and started walking towards the kitchen, only to be immediately stopped in his path.  
"Oh no, where do you think you're going?" the woman said, teasing him. "You stay right where you are." She continued and ran off, soon returning with a towel, and Miller gently put the bags on the floor.  
"I don't want you to ruin the carpet."

Miller looked at the woman as she begun drying his hair gently with the soft fabric. He looked at her face, the beautiful face of his wife Sarah. Never in his life had he regretted marrying her, and he didn't care about his family not thinking that she was good for him. Never had he ever thought that, because he loved her.

Sarah looked up, and their eyes locked, and she gently placed a kiss on his lips, and smiled.  
"So, how was your day?" Sarah asked as she folded the towel and begun to walk off into the kitchen, Miller soon following her with the groceries.  
"Apart from this wonderful weather?" he chuckled as he begun to unpack the bags. "No… it was just a normal, boring day at the office."

"At least it seemed more entertaining than mine."  
"Don't say that, Sarah." The mood suddenly changed, and he knew why. "You know what the doctors said. You can't go out."  
"I know but… I just feel so… locked up." Sarah whispered and Miller quickly held her in his arms.  
"I don't want to lose you." Miller could feel his eyes tear up, but help them back as he didn't want to feel weak in front of her. He had to stay strong.  
No matter how much Miller loved and cared about Sarah, she just couldn't accept herself. She always blamed her sickness on herself. It was always her fault. But deep inside she knew it wasn't, but she just wouldn't accept it.

They held each other for a while, and Miller grabbed her shoulders, pushing her away at arm's length so that he could look properly at her face.

"You know what?" he said, looking into her eyes as she looked at him with teary eyes, and he wiped away her tears gently with his thumbs.  
"What?"  
"I'll cook you a dinner you'll never forget." Sarah did enjoy his cooking, even though it wasn't that well, but it always seemed to make her smile, and he was happy with that.

-  
"Great work today, pal!" a familiar voice yelled at Miller. He looked up and saw his colleague Stan wave at him with a big smile on his face. Moment ago he just came back to the office from an interrogation. It was his very first, and he did think that it went very well, even though he interrogated a boy who had committed only small theft.  
Miller waved back and felt strange that he had called him 'pal', considering he barely knew Stan, but ignored the thought and looked down into his papers filled with numbers. Pretty boring, actually, but it had to be filled in.

_Bzzt, bzzt_

Miller immediately jumped at the sound of his phone. As he looked at the clock hanging on the wall across the room he knew he had fallen asleep. "Crap, she must be worried…" he thought as he slowly picked up his phone to answer it, even though he didn't recognize the number.  
"Miller." He said with a tired voice.  
"Hello brother."

-

It didn't take long before Miller arrived at his home, aware of that he'd definitely gone way too fast with the car. But he didn't care; he had to make sure Sarah was okay.  
He didn't care about locking his car as he ran up to the front door of his house and almost smashed it open. He had expected the worse, but he sighed when his greeting was the shocked face of his wife who dropped a vase when suddenly surprised by Miller.

"Are you trying to scare me to death?" she yelled while pointing at the vase, angry for it being shattered into pieces.  
"Are you okay?" he said while breathing heavily between each word.  
"Why wouldn't I be?" Confusion spread all over her face as Miller approached her, only to be stopped by a familiar click.  
"Yes, why wouldn't she be, brother?" A man said behind Millers back, but he didn't turn around to face the man.  
"What do you want?"

"Oh, come on now, is that how you greet me? After all these years?" The man was mocking him, and Miller finally turned around, with his hands in the air, to face a big man with a hideous scar running from his eye and over his mouth. "Ah, it feels nice to finally talk to you face to face."  
Before Miller had a chance to say anything, another man silently grabbed his wife while holding her under gunpoint. It was not until she let out a horrified, startled scream that Miller noticed and just by an instinct he turned begun to move towards her.

"I don't think so." a third man threatened, and another gun was pointed at him. Miller immediately stopped and looked into Sarah's eyes, filled with confusion, horror and tears. _I'm so sorry._  
"What the fuck do you want, Robert?" Miller said, almost gritting his teeth at his brother.  
"I must admit, you've settled down pretty good here, haven't you?" Robert said as he made his way past Miller and towards Sarah. "A nice house, a good job and a beautiful wife."  
Robert's expression when he mentioned the last thing was nothing but evil, but Miller still didn't say anything. He couldn't.

"So, what do I want?" his brother said calmly as he grabbed Sarah arm, telling the other man to let her go. She struggled as Robert's face closed in to hers. "What I want is something way beyond your imagination" he whispered into her ear and smiled and whispered yet another thing in her ear, which made Sarah's face freeze.

"Let her go!" Miller yelled and rushed towards Robert, but immediately fell down in pain as a bullet penetrated his foot.  
"Don't make this any harder than it could be, dear brother." Robert said as he pointed his gun towards Sarah again. "Go on, sweetheart, tell him."  
"Don't listen to him… Sarah…" Miller struggled to get up, but it was useless. The pain was unbearable.

"No..." Sarah looked into her husband's painful eyes. "Not like this…"  
"It's either him or you."  
The room went silent for a while, but one as one of the men moved closer to her husband with his gun, she had to say it.  
"I-… I'm pregnant." Miller stared at her, feeling how tears begun to run down his cheeks. In another situation, this would have been great news for both of them. But Miller knew that he would never become a father as he saw his wife fall down onto the floor with a gunshot through her belly. He screamed.

"Maybe I should mention that I had your house bugged. If it makes you feel better, it was all a coincidence that I knew your lovely wife was pregnant." Miller didn't want to hear. She couldn't be dead… He tried to crawl over to her, but felt a hard kick being placed onto his back. "Why-…" Another kick. The other men laughed.  
"Revenge, brother. Revenge because you left me alone in that house. You ran away. Leaving me with those psychopaths." Robert placed a last kick onto Miller, and begun to walk out of the house. Saying nothing more.

The other men soon followed, chit-chatting to each other as if nothing ever happened.  
"Imagine if he'd be mayor."  
"Yeah. Robert Caine for mayor. That sure would be a lovely sight…"  
The men left the house, and Miller crawled towards his wife, trying to fight back the stinging pain.  
"Sarah?" No answer. "No.. no! You can't be dead…"  
He sat up and grabbed his wife in his arms, kissing her, shaking her lightly, hoping that she would open her eyes. But nothing.

"I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry…" he whispered, sobbing.  
It's not your fault… Miller immediately looked up and placed a hand on her cheek, now looking into a pair of green, painful eyes. "It's not… your fault…"  
"I need to get you to a doctor." Miller panicked and tried to move, but he couldn't.  
"No..." _It's too late._  
"I don't want to lose you…"  
"_I'll… still be with you…_" Sarah was breathing painfully and Miller hushed her as he hugged her softly, feeling how the life in her disappeared.  
Miller couldn't stand it anymore, and he soon fell unconscious, feeling how everything around him turned dark.


End file.
